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Sunday, March 22, 2015

Rat Tattoo

Yes, you read correctly. I decided to get a rat tattoo. I had been thinking about doing something like that for quite some time (even before my boys died, though I never thought too seriously about it until recently). I had seen some rat art/tattoos that inspired me, but nothing that knocked my socks off.

A little over a month ago, I stumbled across this on Pinterest:

(Try as I might, I could not track down the original posting or the artist. I scoured Pinterest, DeviantArt, and Google and came up empty handed. I hope the original artist will forgive me! This was the only link I found: rat art.)

This one hooked me, so I decided I wanted something similar and I wanted the rats to look like Romulus and Remus, obviously.

Even after the last several months and having new rat babies to love, I still miss them like crazy. They are so often in my thoughts and dreams and always in my heart. Their absence weighs so heavily on me. I would have been happy to have the two of them forever. They were so special and I felt inspired to show that. Plus, I feel like I really am the crazy rat lady, so why not make it official? Extend the crazy, as it were.

So I showed them the above image and sent a few pictures of Romulus and Remus (like I don't have enough, right?) The guy who owns Fallen Owl and did my first two tattoos was, once again, booked through August! (WHAT?!?) And the lady who did my Labyrinth tattoo is no longer at that studio, so Adam (the owner) made a few recommendations for me based on what I wanted and pulled out portfolios. I actually ended up liking the portfolio of a visiting tattoo artist best for this type of thing. So we set up an appointment a couple of weeks out.

That gave me more time to solidify my decision and make sure of the placement. Tattoo placement seems to be the hardest thing for me to decide on and I am amazingly picky. I aim for places that won't wrinkle/stretch too much over time, as well as places that I can cover them up (in case I ever want a job... actually, at my current job, no one cares! Awesome). I had been thinking about my collar bone area. I carried them around on my shoulders so that seemed appropriate. And then I could put it close to my heart. Because I am a cheesy person.

And that was that! I went in Friday before work to have it done. The guest artist who did it was great-very nice and talented. Plus he keeps everything really clean (a must in my world. Fallen Owl always keeps things clean, though). It took not quite two hours and it hurt like the dickens (all of my others were either done in one hour or one hour sessons).

I was happy with the way it turned out. But I couldn't take any good pictures right off because the artist covered it with a special bandage. It was clear, but blood and ink pooled inside of it. It was pretty nasty looking!

So I waited the 24 hours and took off the bandage. Carefully, so as to not get blood everywhere (again, nasty). I washed it and tada!

It obviously needs time to heal (and boy is it tender!), but it looks pretty good, right? I got several compliments on it when I went into work. My kind of people on night shift: nerds with crazy hair colors and tattoos. I feel like I fit in!

I imagine some people will find me very odd for getting my rat tattoo. But I am happy with it! It's a nice reminder of my boys. I love how they are all curled up together. It reminds me so much of how they always curled up together when they were alive. I think that is part of why the original image made such a strong impression.